Pyotr Nesterenko is on first-name terms with death. As director of the Moscow Crematorium during the Stalin era, he has reduced them all to ash: the dissidents, the alleged spies, and the former heroes of the Revolution who have fallen victim to the purges.
He, on the other hand, is convinced he cannot die. He has narrowly escaped death countless times – until the day he himself is arrested. Will he cheat the gallows one more time?